Aereo, the television-over-the-Internet service that suspended operations after the Supreme Court ruled against it, is refusing to disband for good.

The company is now using the Supreme Court’s own language to force broadcasters to treat it just like a cable TV company. In Aereo’s view, that means broadcasters must license their signals to Aereo under a 1976 copyright law.

But the Supreme Court actually stopped short of declaring Aereo a cable company, and previous court rulings have said Internet-based services don’t qualify. Even if Aereo is considered a cable company, a 1996 communications law overrides some of the guarantees Aereo seeks.

“It’s probably going to be an uphill battle,” said Seth Davidson, an Edwards Wildman Palmer attorney who specializes in communications and copyright law. “It’s Aereo’s last shot. I see no downside to them in trying.”

Until Aereo voluntarily suspended service June 28, it was streaming live and recorded TV shows to customers’ tablets, phones and other gadgets. Prices started at $8 a month. Aereo claimed it wasn’t anything like a cable company because each customer was temporarily assigned an individual antenna about the size of a dime. Aereo argued that the arrangement was no different from customers who put their own antennas on rooftops.

The Supreme Court rejected Aereo’s argument, saying the company acted like a cable system so its service constituted a public performance subject to copyright royalties and licensing.

Now, Aereo says that if that’s the case, it should be allowed to retransmit signals under what’s called a compulsory licensing arrangement. In essence, a cable company is allowed to pick up the broadcast signal without reaching a licensing deal with the station. The U.S. Copyright Office then calculates royalties based partly on the cable company’s revenue.

Aereo rival FilmOn made a similar case after the Supreme Court’s ruling. It used to offer the broadcast channels for free after showing video ads. FilmOn started restricting access to paying subscribers so that it, too, could claim to be akin to cable service.

New York U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan must decide whether to grant broadcasters’ request to ban Aereo, which would prevent Aereo from lifting its voluntary suspension. If the judge agrees Aereo is a cable company, then Aereo could resume operations regardless of the Supreme Court’s ruling.

In a separate case, a federal appeals court had ruled that an Internet-based TV service called Ivi didn’t qualify as a cable system and thus wasn’t entitled to compulsory licensing. In a filing Wednesday, Aereo took the position that the Supreme Court overruled the Ivi decision by deeming Aereo a cable system.

That’s a stretch, experts say.

“While the Supreme Court’s decision is obviously based on the notion that Aereo looks an awful lot like a cable system, I don’t think it can be said that, as a technical matter, the Supreme Court held that Aereo is a cable system,” said Harry Cole, a communications regulations lawyer at Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth.

Even if Nathan sides with Aereo, it would likely be a short-lived victory. Definitions of cable systems differ under copyright and communications laws, and Davidson said Aereo must count on the Federal Communications Commission not to consider Aereo a cable system under the communications law.

Otherwise, Aereo could be subject to retransmission fees on top of compulsory royalties. The compulsory fees typically go to content providers such as the studio that made “The Simpsons” or the musicians behind songs performed on TV. The retransmission fees are what local stations want most, as those compensate them for the actual signals.

“You can’t just cherry pick one fee you want to pay and not pay the other,” said Dennis Wharton, a spokesman with the National Association of Broadcasters.

With the exception of non-commercial, educational stations, broadcasters can simply demand fees that Aereo can’t afford without huge hikes in the rates it charges customers. It’s these kinds of demands that have kept some stations off various cable and satellite TV systems in high-profile disputes in recent years.

As you comment, please be respectful of other commenters and other viewpoints. Our goal with article comments is to provide a space for civil, informative and constructive conversations. We reserve the right to remove any comment we deem to be defamatory, rude, insulting to others, hateful, off-topic or reckless to the community. See our full terms of use here.

A Buffalo, Minn., man was fatally injured Wednesday morning in Hugo when a tractor-trailer and a front-end loader apparently collided. Washington County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched about 8:40 a.m. to the 14600 block of Irish Avenue, where the truck and front-end loader crashed, according to a news release issued by the sheriff’s office. Responding deputies found one man with critical...

Target plans to boost its same-day delivery capability by paying $550 million for Shipt, its latest move to try to catch up with Amazon. Shipt, which charges members $99 a year, sends people out to choose and deliver groceries from stores. Target said Wednesday that it will add more products to the service next year, such as home goods and...

Ten years ago, Wisconsinite Helen McCombie decided to ring the bell for the Salvation Army’s red kettle for 30 hours straight, raising $15,000. She continued the tradition for two more years before passing it on to others. This year, the Salvation Army in western Wisconsin hopes the bell-ringing marathoners will bring in $75,000 to help save its homeless shelters, which...

BENSON, Minn. — Minnesota’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the death of a man who died last week after a fall at the Benson Power plant in west-central Minnesota. Almost a week later, the police have not yet released the name of the man, though family members have been notified. The investigation into the incident is ongoing with...

A blind, potbellied pig found abandoned in southern Minnesota will get a second chance at life at an animal rescue in North Dakota. Alison Smith, owner of Kitty City animal rescue, took in Wanda the pig, who was found deserted at a residence in Albert Lea, Minn. A volunteer with Kitty City made the more than 500-mile trek last weekend...